News

Puck-detecting golden retriever has sniffed out nearly 800 pucks

Corona, a puck-detecting dog from Ottawa, has sniffed out nearly 800 pucks from the snow around local rinks. His owners have a massive collection of his work, which they’re going to donate to, or sell to raise money for, local charities.

Growing up just north of Barrie, Ont., we always had a rink in our back yard in the winter. We’d ring the ice with boards and used to hang a puck-catching net at one end where the boards were lower.

But this didn’t stop pucks from flying over and into the deep, fluffy snow.

We’d attempt to look for them, but would eventually give up and just bring out some more from inside. It never seemed like we lost too many pucks, but every spring, during what dad called The Annual Puck Harvest, we’d magically find the black pieces of rubber “growing” everywhere in the yard behind the rink.

We also always had a dog – but our dog was never able to help with an early Puck Harvest like Corona, a retriever from Ottawa, would be able to.

Corona’s owners used to throw the pucks back onto the rinks, but eventually started to keep them and now have a collection of nearly 800. The say they’d like to donate or sell the puck individually to raise money for some local charities.

Dogs: a hockey-playing Canadian’s best friend.

Here’s some raw video footage from CBC of Corona doing what he does best.